Here we go: all the news about Super Mario Bros. Wonder
It’s been a long time since the last side-scrolling Super Mario game, but it was worth the wait. Super Mario Bros. Wonder — the first mainline entry in the series since 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey — builds on the classic NES and SNES games with a hefty dose of strange new ideas that dramatically change up the experience. The game also caps off a big year for the plumber, following the debut of the Super Mario Bros. Movie and the Super Nintendo World theme park in Los Angeles, and it might just be the last major release ahead of the Switch’s incoming successor. Stay tuned for all of the latest on Wonder right here.
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Oct 18
Andrew Webster
Super Mario Bros. Wonder never stops surprising
Image: Nintendo
When a Super Mario game gets really good, you can’t help but move around in your seat. I find myself leaning into jumps as if it’ll give me an advantage and ducking my head down to avoid flying enemies. Even after a few decades of playing these games, it’s an instinct I can’t seem to avoid — and I was never sitting still while playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Nintendo Switch.
Wonder is the first brand-new side-scrolling Mario game in over a decade and the first mainline entry in the series since Super Mario Odyssey in 2017. It’s also one of the best titles in the franchise to date. Wonder manages to pull from classics like Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3, while firmly updating the formula with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of wild new ideas. Wonder, it turns out, is a very fitting name. It’s a feeling that you’ll experience plenty of while playing.
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Oct 18
Andrew Webster
With a Switch 2 looming, Nintendo is sending out the original with a bang
Super Mario Bros. Wonder.Image: Nintendo
There’s a very good chance that this will be the last year where the Switch is Nintendo’s main piece of hardware. While rumors of a Switch successor have persisted for years, recent reports suggest that an upgraded device is not only coming but will be here relatively soon, with a potential 2024 launch. If that is indeed the case, it seems that Nintendo isn’t content to let the device go out with a whimper — in fact, 2023 has been one of the Switch’s strongest years to date.
Just look at the company’s biggest properties. This year, we have both a new mainline Zelda in Tears of the Kingdom and a classic Mario title with Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The last time the company released a major Zelda and Super Mario in the same year was 2017, which just so happened to be when the Switch debuted. (Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey have since gone on to sell more than 50 million combined copies.) Tears of the Kingdom, in particular, really feels like it’s pushing the upper limits of what the Switch is capable of — just look at some of the physics-defying creations players have come up with inside of its giant open world.
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Oct 18
Andrew Webster
“I counted the number of sticky notes we had, and there were over 2,000!â€
Super Mario Bros. Wonder comes out on Friday, and the game is absolutely bursting with ideas. Turns out, though, that a lot of things were left on the cutting room floor. This interview series from Nintendo gets into some of the fun details. My favorite comes from famed composer Koji Kondo:
I shared the idea of an eight-heads-tall, life-sized, live-action Mario humming along with the background music as he goes along... When he jumps, he says to himself, “Boing!†...The idea was never used, though.
Ask the Developer Vol. 11, Super Mario Bros. Wonder
[Nintendo]
Oct 13
Ash Parrish
Here’s Mario’s new voice actor
Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Image: Nintendo
After months of speculation, conspiracy theories, and false alarms, we finally know the name of Mario’s new voice actor: Kevin Afghani. On Friday, Afghani announced the news on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom!â€
Nintendo confirmed the news in an email, saying simply, “The voice actor’s name is Kevin Afghani.†The news comes after iconic voice actor Charles Martinet stepped away from the role in August to become a Mario ambassador.
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Oct 10
Jay Peters
Wonder what Wonder is like?
Nintendo says you can now try a demo of Super Mario Bros. Wonder at “select†Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Walmart stores. The full game is scheduled to launch on October 20th.
Sep 22
Ash Parrish
Anyway, here’s Wonder-wall.
With a little less than a month to go, Nintendo’s released a new Super Mario Bros. Wonder trailer. The trailer treads familiar ground, going over all the power-ups and places you’ll experience in the game.
If you missed the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct or if you just can’t get enough of what looks to be the trippiest Mario Bros. game ever, take a look.
Sep 7
Ash Parrish
Charles Martinet finally explains what the hell a Mario ambassador is
Image: Nintendo
After weeks of wonder (heh) and speculation, Nintendo is finally giving longtime Mario voice actor Charles Martinet a proper send-off. Nintendo released a short video featuring Martinet and Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto in which the pair take a fond look back at Martinet’s time in the role.
It’s a short, sweet video, Martinet is his typical enthusiastic self, dropping iconic lines from theMario characters he voices. He also finally explains exactly what the hell a Mario ambassador is (something he apparently wasn’t too clear on himself not that long ago, based on comments he made at a convention.)
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Sep 5
Ash Parrish
Nintendo isn’t revealing Mario’s new voice actor until Wonder comes out
Getty Images
Nintendo’s going to let us figure out who the next voice of Mario is on our own. In an interview with IGN, Nintendo of America’s president, Doug Bowser, said that the company doesn’t plan on revealing Charles Martinet’s replacement until folks roll credits on Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
“I think people have recognized this when they see Super Mario Bros. Wonder, they’ll hear a different voice,†Bowser told IGN. “And we’ll let that play out and that’ll be within the credits, and people will learn who the new person is at that point in time, but we don’t plan to make any announcement in advance of that.â€
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Aug 31
Ash Parrish
Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks trippy as hell in new gameplay trailer
As people eagerly await Starfield reviews and rev up their Xboxes for the game’s early access opening, Nintendo decided that it would not be left out of today’s video game news. During today’s interestingly timed Mario Direct presentation, Nintendo shared roughly 15 minutes of gameplay from Super Mario Bros. Wonder andannounced a new Mario-themed Switch OLED.
Despite Nintendo’s traditional wholesomeness, I cannot shake the feeling that the thesis of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is just, “What if this time, Mario and all his friends just got super high?†In the gameplay presentation, the flowers talk now, the new Flower Kingdom seems a bit more wacky than other Mario locations, and with the power of the Wonder Flowers, Mario can get up to all kinds of interesting, mind-bending shenanigans.
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Aug 31
Andrew Webster
Nintendo is making a bright red Switch OLED for Mario Wonder
Image: Nintendo
At its most recent Nintendo Direct, the company showed off some fresh gameplay for the upcoming platformer Super Mario Bros. Wonder. But we also got a look at some new hardware — or, at least, a new color for the OLED version of the Nintendo Switch.
The tablet is getting a Mario makeover to coincide with the game, with a slick red color scheme, complete with a Mario silhouette and some coins hidden beneath the back panel. It’ll be available on October 6th, just ahead of Wonder’s launch on October 20th, though it’s already available for preorder from Amazon, Nintendo, and Best Buy.
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Aug 21
Richard Lawler
Nintendo fans said Mario’s voice sounded different in new trailers, and they were right.
After Nintendo’s Direct event in June, many Mario fans noticed something was up with the voices in previews for Super Mario Bros. Wonder and WarioWare: Move It! and started talking about it.
Now, after announcing longtime Mario voice actor Charles Martinet “will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games,†Nintendo confirmed in an email to Polygon about Wonder that “Charles is not involved in the gameâ€
Aug 21
Ash Parrish
The voice of Mario is stepping away from the character
Martinet at the launch of Super Mario Galaxy.Photo by Stephen Kelly - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images
Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for over 25 years, will no longer be voicing the iconic character, according to a tweet from Nintendo. Martinet has voiced the character since the ’90s, appearing in mainline Mario titles like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Mario Galaxy as well as countless spinoffs.
“Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this new transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games,†Nintendo’s statement reads. “It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him.â€
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Jun 21
Andrew Webster
Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings 2D action to the Switch in October
Mario’s big year continues. Following the debut of a theme park and an animated movie, 2023 will also be getting the next Super Mario Bros. game. It’s called Super Mario Bros. Wonder and is a return to the 2D side-scrolling action of the original games and the New Super Mario Bros. series. It has some weird new abilities, including the ability to turn into an elephant. It launches on October 20th.
The last mainline Super Mario game was Odyssey, which hit the Switch back in 2017. Since then, we’ve had spinoffs like Super Mario Maker 2, the retro collection Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and the 3D World expansion Bowser’s Fury.
